DWI effort yields 115 arrests over holiday in Montgomery County

Published 5:50 am, Friday, July 12, 2013

The numbers are in from the Fourth of July holiday and they reflect a successful enforcement period.

The Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office announced Monday there were 115 driving while intoxicated charges filed over the extended holiday period. Of the arrests, about 55 percent were first offenders, while the remaining repeat offenders included 22 felony DWI arrests.

There were not any fatal traffic crashes during that period. Law enforcement officials stepped up their effort to reduce drunk driving last July after five people were killed in less than 48 hours when two drivers allegedly drove the wrong way on Interstate 45.

The Joint Crime Reduction Unit, a Department of Public Safety task force, and Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office DWI group cooperated with prospectors working the DA’s No Refusal weekend. They drafted 19 search warrants for blood in DWI cases.

That dropped from the state average of 45 percent to 32 percent.

“It’s an indication that more people are getting the No Refusal message,” said Warren Diepraam, chief prosecutor of the DA’s Trial Division.

Of the arrests, the average breath test result was 0.16, with a range from 0.08 to 0.253. The state minimum for intoxication is 0.08.

While the District Attorney’s Office stressed reducing DWIs, the MCSO conducted “Operation Saturation.” Deputies were used to target and enforce traffic laws in the Texas 105 and South Montgomery areas. The operation’s goal was to reduce the opportunities for vehicle crashes.

The operation’s results were over 550 traffic stops with over 380 traffic citations issued, 9 misdemeanor DWI arrests, 1 felony DWI arrest and two minors driving under the influence.

Funds from the Impaired Driving and Speed STEP grants from the Texas Department of Transportation funded much of the MCSO’s overtime.

Another example of the No Refusals’ success is that there weren’t any boating while intoxicated arrests. There haven’t been any BWI’s on Lake Conroe for all most five years,” Diepraam said.